“A woman’s place is on the money” is the catchy tagline of a growing national movement to put an American woman trail blazer on the $20 bill. It’s pretty fitting timing given that it’s Women’s History month and a long overdue improvement if you consider that the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars (when’s the last time you used one of those?) are the only places women are represented on our currency.

Reading through the list of women candidates is a walk through America’s history and a reminder of how many strong, smart and brave women have impacted our nation. We couldn’t help but take note of two nominees who played vital roles in the creation of Social Security – First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the first female U.S. Cabinet member, and the longest-serving labor secretary in history, Frances Perkins. Both women played critical roles in ensuring America’s retirees would have an income security lifeline as they age. Eleanor Roosevelt is also the inspiration for our “Eleanor’s Hope” initiative which is raising awareness, recruiting and training new Social Security activists while also bolstering Congressional leaders who are making a difference on women’s health and retirement security issues. We’re also advocating for legislation that addresses the inequities threatening millions of retired women and working to elect lawmakers who share our vision of retirement equity for women.

Without Social Security, over half of all older Americans would fall into poverty. More than many other federal programs, Social Security does exactly what it was designed to do - it gives retired people a secure, basic income for as long as they live. We think that’s a really great reason to cast our Women on 20’s vote for Eleanor and Frances (plus you get to pick one more too!)

The House has passed the so-called "doc fix" legislation replacing the flawed reimbursement formula Congress itself created years ago to cut pay to doctors in Medicare. The formula has never worked and Congress has had to vote to replace it year after year. We've supported the permanent replacement of this flawed formula and still do. Unfortunately, the legislation that passed the House today merely trades one bad deal for another. And this time it's seniors who take the hit.

“Contrary to claims by supporters, on both sides of the aisle, this ‘doc fix’ does not impact only ‘wealthy seniors’. Millions of beneficiaries who depend on a Medigap plan to help pay their health care bills – no matter their income -- will be hit with higher costs. Given that 46% of all Medigap policy holders had incomes of $30,000 or less, it’s clear this deal impacts far more than the wealthy, as the bill’s proponents have claimed. What’s more, Medicare beneficiaries will be forced to contribute nearly $60 billion in premiums over the next decade to replace the SGR.

No doubt, we’ll hear today that this ‘compromise’ Medicare doc-fix plan must be a success because there are concessions from all sides. Unfortunately, that political trope is just as flawed as the SGR itself because it ignores the financial reality facing Medicare beneficiaries just as the SGR ignored the reality facing doctors. Trading a bad deal for doctors for a bad deal for seniors is not a legislative victory and it is a surprising move from some in Congress who have previously vowed to protect Medicare from cuts and seniors from cost-shifting.

It’s no surprise that anti-“entitlement” lobbyists on Capitol Hill and their allies in Congress are celebrating this deal for the benefit cuts they know will ‘grow like an avalanche over time’. That avalanche will be headed straight for American retirees, current and future, as Congress continues to push Medicare down the slippery slope of means testing, raising costs for more and more seniors, including the middle-class.”...Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO

The “Social Security 2100 Act” provides a desperately needed dose of political sanity in the House, where the GOP leadership has devoted most of its energies in cutting benefits to seniors, certainly not strengthening them.

Here are some of the benefit improvements in this legislation:

An across-the-board increase for all beneficiaries of about 2 percent, a change that is projected to yield an annual increase for the typical retiree of $300;

Adoption of the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) for the purpose of determining cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security beneficiaries;

Tax relief for Social Security beneficiaries due to an increase in the threshold for taxation of Social Security benefits to $50,000 for individuals and $100,000 for joint filers, up from $25,000 and $32,000 respectively; and

An increase in the special minimum benefit so that it equals up to 125 percent of the poverty level for an individual. This would be indexed in future years by increases in the average wage level prevailing in the national economy.

This legislation mirrors the approach supported by the vast majority of Americans, of all ages and political persuasions, who do not support cutting Social Security to pay down the deficit...even though that’s the only approach ever offered by conservatives in Congress these days.

Well, the GOP Budget Has Defined its Fiscal Priorities For America Alright...Middle-class Americans, Retirees, Children, People with Disabilities, and the Poor Foot the Bill So That Huge Corporations and the Wealthy Keep Tax Giveaways and Loopholes

Budget plans are about setting priorities and in a grander sense defining the nation’s values. By the look of next year’s proposed GOP House Budget, that means conservatives in Washington intend to double-down on an economic vision in which our dwindling middle-class, America’s retirees, people with disabilities, the poor and their families continue to do the heavy-lifting so that the richest 1% can keep their tax breaks and loopholes.

Here's our reaction from NCPSSM President/CEO, Max Richtman:

“Once again, the House GOP’s budget would privatize Medicare with a voucher plan, leaving seniors and the disabled – some of our most vulnerable Americans – hostage to the whims of private insurance companies. Over time, this will end traditional Medicare and make it harder for seniors to choose their own doctor. Vouchers will not keep up with the increasing cost of health insurance… that is why seniors will pay more. Incredibly, the GOP budget also tries to have it both ways by counting the savings in Medicare since the passage of health care reform and then repealing the law that delivered those same savings. Seniors need to pay careful attention to this next fact: if the GOP isn’t stopped from repealing healthcare reform, Medicare beneficiaries would immediately lose billions in prescription drug savings, wellness visits and preventative services with no out-of-pocket costs, and years of solvency will be lost to the Medicare program.

Social Security disability beneficiaries are also targeted by the GOP’s refusal to allow a routine and temporary reallocation of part of the 6.2 percent Social Security tax rate to the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Instead, Republicans in the House would allow a 20% benefit cut for millions of disabled Americans unless there are broader Social Security benefit cuts or tax increases improving the solvency of the combined trust funds. This GOP budget also call for the creation of commission to study what Republicans claim are ‘structural deficiencies’ in Social Security, even though the program has never missed a payment and currently has $2.8 trillion in its trust fund.

No doubt, Congressional conservatives feel emboldened by the 2014 elections; however, I suggest the message voters sent wasn’t the message the GOP is touting in this new budget. The American people do not support gutting Social Security and Medicare and targeting the middle-class to pay for tax cuts and loopholes for corporations and the wealthy – which is the foundation the House GOP budget plan is built upon.” ... Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO